Prior to the meeting, the APEC Ministerial Meeting, the Concluding Senior Officials Meeting and the APEC CEO Summit will take place.

Under the heading of “A new commitment to Asia-Pacific development”, the APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting will focus on seven major issues, including the global financial crisis, food and commodity price increases, Doha negotiations, regional economic integration, social dimensions and businesses, climate change and human security.

Whilst attending the event, Vietnam , as well as cooperating in addressing these emerging issues, will focus the spotlight on cooperation in ensuring food security, health care and coping with emergencies and disasters.

APEC, established in Nov. 1989 with 12 founding members, has developed into a group of 21 members. APEC has become an important regional economic forum for a large and potential market, including the world’s largest and most dynamic economies. Its members represent 52 percent of the world’s total area, 59 percent of the global population and 70 percent of the world’s natural resources, contributing 57 percent of the global GDP and 50 percent of the world’s trade volume.

Since joining APEC in Nov. 1998, Vietnam has actively participated in its programmes focusing on the liberalisation and facilitation of trade and investment and economic-technological cooperation.

APEC is seen as a potential market for Vietnamese businesses as it represents 80 percent of the country’s trade value, 75 percent of FDI capital and 50 percent of ODA sources.

Vietnam is an active member of a number of APEC working groups and has participated in many APEC action programmes. In 2006, Vietnam successfully hosted the 14 th APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting, with its initiative on APEC reform applauded by the other members.

Over the past ten years, Vietnam has put forward numerous ideas for cooperation, including initiatives on organising seminars and training courses with the aim of sharing experiences and improving the performance of member economies.

The country’s level of APEC participation has been appreciated by the other members and has also had a positive impact on its development. Vietnam ’s cooperation commitments have helped to boost its trade and investment ties with other regional economies.

In 2008, Vietnam proposed a number of initiatives relating to trade facilitation, intellectual property rights, anti-corruption measures and epidemic prevention.